Well I managed to bring out the Hamon on an edge quenched 1095 boning knife. This was my first attempt at differential heat treating 1095 and like how it came out. The first picture is before the etch for contrast and the second is after.

Looks real good.
Couple of questions. What did you use for a heat source? Forge or torch?
What clay? and Did you temper afterwards? I have heard tempering can remove the Hamon line.
I been thinking about experimenting with this on a piece of farriers rasp and my oxy/acet torch. Wondering if it could be done.

I used a pottery kiln, it has a max temp of 2000F. I took the 1095 to 1475F held it for 10min then edge quenched in parks 50 oil. I didnít do clay thatís the reason for the straight line. I donít know about tempering removing a Hamon. This very well may have been beginners luck as itís my only one I have done. After tempering I just did a lot of sanding to 1500 grit then etched in ferric chloride cut with white vinegar. I would dip it for 20 seconds then rub hard with cotton balls; I did this until it was the color I liked then sprayed it down with windex to neutralize he acid.

Pretty cool. I've tried it with 1095 and never could get a really pronounced hamon. I cracked a couple of blades trying. I recently ordered some W2, so I'm going to try that.

You'll like W-2 for hamon Sam. As far as I'm concerned W-2 is the best of all the high carbon steels, I like to call it Super Steel. How did you crack your blade, did you use brine? If you do it again do it again use the super quench mixture. I'm sure I've used Super Quench on over 500 knives and had one with a small hair line crack on the spine on Damascus Steel. Probably it was already stressed from the forging process. I also like to use it on 52100 which I use a lot and will use it on my San Mai blades and cable Damascus.

Yes. I think what happened was that with the edge of the blade expanding as it hardened, and the back not moving at all, it created too much stress on the edge. The crack was catastrophic. I might could've avoided that by either leaving the edge thicker or doing an interrupted quench. Do you do interrupted quenches with your brine mixture, or do you just leave it in there to cool off? Since quenching those blades in brine, I've gotten some Parks 50, so I think that will help, too.

Yes. I think what happened was that with the edge of the blade expanding as it hardened, and the back not moving at all, it created too much stress on the edge. The crack was catastrophic. I might could've avoided that by either leaving the edge thicker or doing an interrupted quench. Do you do interrupted quenches with your brine mixture, or do you just leave it in there to cool off? Since quenching those blades in brine, I've gotten some Parks 50, so I think that will help, too.

Sam I don't do an interrupted quench, I'll leave it in about a minute then to cold water and take the belt grinder with a scotch brite belt to take off the scale and without wasting any time off to the tempering oven at 400 degrees. I used to do an interrupted quench and found I wasn't essential for my quench method.